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Wild Thing
Moishe '''(or '''Carol) is one of the titular creatures featured in Where the Wild Things Are, a 1963 children's picture book written and illustrated by Maurice Sendak. In the book, Wild Things are malicious beasts who inhabit an island where a young boy named Max, after sailing there, intimidates them and is hailed as their king. The book has sold over 19 million copies worldwide and has been adapted into a live-action feature film. History with the Macy's Parade Wild Thing Out of all the characters that have appeared as balloons in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Moishe (referred in the parade as simply the Wild Thing) has one of the most unusual stories. In 1998, Macy's and Bell Atlantic announced a Wild Thing balloon to debut in the 72nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade alongside Babe the Pig and the titular boy genius from ''Dexter's Laboratory'', in order to promote Bell Atlantic's new advertising campaign featuring the characters. However, strong winds and heavy rain affected the 1998 parade, causing three balloons to get damaged and removed before starting their flight through Manhattan; Spider-Man, Garfield, and Quik Bunny. However, they would not be the last casualties of the weather... When the Wild Thing was lifted into the air following Inflation Eve, a crosswind shoved him into a lamppost, causing a 10-foot long gash on his left arm and claw. Parade director Jean McFadden ruled the balloon too damaged to fly (despite only one section being punctured), and the balloon was removed from the parade. Coincidentally, he was also the only new balloon in 1998 that missed its test flight, and due to this and the accident, he wasn't shown on the NBC telecast and hosts Katie Couric and Matt Lauer did not mention him at all. After the 1998 parade ended, there was a press coverage on the questioning about the incident, and if he will appear again in the following year, and Macy's promised that he will return. In February 1999, Manfred Bass and Jim Artle did a chamber test on the Wild Thing, to check if the seals are fully air-tight. Luckily, the balloon passed its test and was ready for the 1999 parade. Although he couldn't be inflated the night before, due to one of his chambers not being able to inflate properly After his two failed attempts to debut in the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Wild Thing was retired due to the character being stripped off of Bell Atlantic's advertising campaign when the company was rebranded into Verizon. He would've been the second known giant balloon, the first being Dudley the Dragon, that never made it to Herald Square. Three years later in 2002, in preparation for the book's 40th anniversary, HarperCollins Children's Books decided to sponsor the Wild Thing balloon. Fortunately, he managed to withstand the route, and make his official Herald Square debut. The balloon returned for the following year's parade but was retired afterwards. As a Walk-around For the balloon's return in 2002, a Wild Thing walk-around was created to accompany it. It was also retired with the balloon following 2003. Incidents * In 1998, he was shoved into a lamppost and punctured his left arm at the starting line, resulting in his removal. * In 1999, The Wild Thing couldn't be inflated due to one of his chambers not being to inflate properly, so he had to be removed once again, and would not return until 2002. Gallery Gallery: Wild Thing Category:Macy's Balloon Characters Category:Children's Book Characters Category:1998 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade Category:Comeback Balloon in the Parade Category:Retired Balloons Category:1990s Balloons Category:Male Balloons Category:Raven Aerostar Balloons Category:Balloons used outside of the parade Category:Balloons that were in an accident Category:Big Balloons Category:Balloons that got removed from the parade Category:Balloons not talked about on their NBC telecast